Managing Director – Regional Business — Low-Carbon Platform

The mandate

An institutionally backed Gulf low-carbon platform combines operating renewables, development projects, customer solutions and emerging ventures across country entities. Sector economics now require one regional commercial and operating owner while the platform separates selected assets and shared capabilities into a future model. The board seeks a Managing Director who can protect service, allocate capital and make boundaries executable.

The perimeter covers approximately AED 28,800 million in operated assets and development portfolio and 2,175 employees and material partners. Accountability includes regional P&L, operations, commercial strategy, development, capital, customers, partnerships, safety, people and separation. Country and asset leaders retain legal obligations. The MD owns the combined result, separation choices and performance of retained businesses.

Different portfolio stages need different operating rhythms. Operating assets require reliability and lifecycle capital; projects require land, offtake, engineering and financing; ventures require bounded learning. Separation cannot force identical governance or leave dependencies unpriced.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement with a four-to-six-month transition. The incumbent continues normal authority and will transfer country, asset, partner and leadership context. No hidden operating or conduct event prompted succession. Communication will be sequenced confidentially.

What you will own

• Carry regional P&L, cash, capital and service outcomes.
• Segment assets and ventures by stage and ownership path.
• Define retained, separated and shared operating capabilities.
• Govern customer, partner and authority commitments.
• Establish transition services and stranded-cost actions.
• Build country and asset leadership succession.

The regional baseline will reconcile cash, capital, commitments, asset performance, workforce and shared costs. Each position will have a pathway: operate, improve, scale, partner, pause, separate or exit. Unfunded roles and services cannot remain hidden in the retained centre after legal transfer.

Separation design will follow work. Operations, maintenance, control rooms, procurement, technology, data, finance, people, permits and customer obligations will be mapped. Services that remain shared need scope, price, control, continuity and exit. The MD will ensure a buyer or entity can operate safely rather than merely receive legal title.

Operating assets will report availability, lifecycle, safety, customer commitments and cost. Projects will use stage gates for land, permits, offtake, engineering, supply and financing. Ventures will have learning objectives and caps. Capital comparisons will reveal opportunity cost across stages.

Commercial commitments will match deliverable capability. Customer premiums, environmental attributes, performance guarantees and partner promises need evidence and accountable owners. The MD can refuse a high-profile agreement whose technology, supply or operating case remains unverified.

Partnerships will define capital, technology, market access, people and risk contribution. Governance, information, reserved matters and exit must be explicit. Relationship importance will not excuse delayed funding or weak delivery.

People and leadership choices will follow the future model. Critical expertise, employment transfer, mobility, consultation and retention will be planned before separation dates. Temporary retention may protect a gate but cannot substitute for roles and successors in both retained and separated organisations.

Financial and control separation will establish bank, funding, guarantee, tax, accounting, insurance and authority requirements for every entity. Shared cash or parent support will be priced and time-bound. The MD will ensure legal ring-fencing does not conceal practical dependence or stranded obligations. Close and liquidity rehearsals will occur before the operating boundary moves.

Customer continuity will be tested through real events. Billing, dispatch, service failure, performance claim and emergency communication will identify which entity owns the evidence and remedy. Open disputes will be allocated with data, authority and funding. No customer should discover the separation because two organisations dispute who can resolve a live service issue.

Regulatory and public commitments will follow the asset or remain expressly retained. Permits, environmental attributes, local-content undertakings, land, grid rights and community agreements need transfer and consent plans. Where approval is uncertain, the downside and interim operating model will remain visible in the board decision.

The retained platform will have a stranded-cost plan. Premises, systems, contracts, people and management layers that no longer serve sufficient scale require consolidation, transfer or exit. Savings will exclude delayed restructuring or costs merely shifted into transitional services. Each action needs an accountable owner and employee pathway.

The first 12 months

Within 90 days, the MD will validate the ten largest capital, operating and separation positions and assess leadership. The board will receive a segmented portfolio and execution sequence.

By month eight, three positions should operate stage-appropriate gates, two separations should carry costed service exits and the largest stranded-cost issue should have funded removal. Priority customer commitments will reconcile with capability.

At year-end, regional cash and capital should remain within 7% of plan, operating assets meet approved availability and 90% of development spend remain behind gates. No separated asset should inherit an unowned critical dependency, with ready cover for 70% of pivotal roles.

What the board will measure

• One accountable regional result through separation.
• Boundaries executable in operations, not only legally.
• Capital discipline across assets, projects and ventures.
• Customer and partner commitments supported by evidence.
• Strong regional leadership and succession.

The person

You are a Regional Managing Director, low-carbon platform CEO or energy portfolio executive with more than 28 years of experience. You have carried scope above AED 16,700 million and led at least 1,525 people. Your record includes assets, projects, ventures, partnerships and separation.

The board will test a capability you kept shared, an asset you separated without service loss and a venture you stopped. Functional-only leadership will not qualify.

This onsite Abu Dhabi role requires extensive asset, country, partner and authority travel.

Compensation and terms

Fixed compensation is AED 2.8–4.0 million plus annual incentive and LTI. Measures include cash, service, separation, capital, partnerships and succession.

Confidentiality

The platform, countries, assets, ventures, partners and separation plans remain confidential. Further detail follows qualification and mutual confidentiality.